News from around the nation.

Trump orders 'new' census that excludes undocumented immigrants; Tariffs up to 50% kick in worldwide, sparing few; IL sees more ER visits for tick bites; CDC reports highest rates in years; CT tentatively approves Brookfield compressor station expansion.

Transcript

The Public News Service Thursday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump says he has ordered the U.S. Commerce Department to create a new U.S. Census.

That from CNBC.

They quote Trump on social media as saying, "People who are in our country illegally will not be counted in the Census."

CNN notes Trump's proposal marks a dramatic shift from longstanding Census practices.

The U.S. Constitution mandates a national Census every 10 years.

And the census website states it is designed to count every resident in the United States.

Next from the Hill, President Trump's latest rollout of reciprocal tariffs on dozens of trading partners has formally taken effect as of this morning.

Some nations will start down the highest rates, Syria at 41, Laos at 40, while Japan, South Korea and the European Union are at the lower end, looking at a 15 percent figure.

Meantime, the CDC is reporting the highest rate of tick bite cases in more than five years.

Illinois doctors are urging people to take preventive measures to curb being infected by these pests.

Ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas cause vector-borne illnesses that can include viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections.

Dr. Sindhu Aderson with Northwestern Immediate Care notes that while the Midwest typically has significant tick activity, they're observing an unusual increase in tick bites in urban areas such as downtown Chicago.

Anecdotally, I live in the heart of the city and my neighbor's like, "I just pulled a tick off my kid who was just outside in our courtyard.

So we are seeing that and that's kind of unusual.

With ticks being spotted outside of their typical wooded and high grass bushy environments, Aderson stresses prevention is key.

She recommends using insect repellent containing DEET, wearing long sleeve shirts and pants when spending time outdoors, checking yourself, your kids and pets for ticks and showering after returning home from outdoor activities.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch Reporting.

And the Connecticut Department of Energy Environmental Protection is tentatively approving air permits for the Brookfield Compressor Station expansion.

The project increases natural gas flow through a pipeline in Connecticut for use in nearby New York.

Residents have overwhelmingly opposed the project because of the environmental impacts it'll continue to have.

Samantha Dynowski with the Sierra Club Connecticut Chapter says this increases greenhouse gas emissions in an area already dealing with poor air quality.

Most experts recommend compressor stations stay at least 1.8 miles away from occupied buildings.

But this existing station and the proposed expansion is already located within a mile of 800 residential buildings, home to 2000 residents.

It's also 1900 feet from the town's middle school.

But residents living along the pipeline don't understand why it's being approved by both Connecticut and New York.

The gas it supplies is supposed to be used for New York, but the state passed a law where newly constructed buildings must be all electric, which goes into effect next year.

A public hearing on the final determination of the Brookfield permits will be announced soon.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira.

This is Public News Service.

Research shows U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, isn't just targeting immigrants with criminal records during mass arrests, and that deportations negatively impact the economy in places like Arkansas.

The Immigration Research Initiative's report finds that when arrest rose from January to May this year, many of those detained lacked a criminal record.

Although President Donald Trump campaigned on deporting immigrants who commit heinous crimes, report co-author Chloe East says that's not who's being arrested.

The majority who are currently impacted have no criminal conviction, And instead, the only potential violation they have is a civil violation of not complying with immigration law.

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, is a research-focused nonprofit.

It supports these findings with data showing more than 70 percent of people detained had no criminal record.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

Next to Tennessee, where the new county profiles Child Well-Being Report shows progress in education.

Released by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, the report evaluates how children are doing across the state in areas like economic well-being, education, health and family and community support.

It uses 57 key indicators organized into domains.

Kelly Graves with the Commission says all three education indicators, TCAP reading, TCAP math and high school graduation rates shows improvement.

In TCAP reading and math we saw improvement in nearly every county and the largest improvement was in Perry County with a 6.6 percentage point increase from the previous year.

Reading proficiency rose to 38.9 percent with wide gaps between counties 66.9 percent in Williamson and just 18.3 percent in Lake.

Danielle Smith reporting.

Finally, more than 5,000 kids in Virginia are in the child welfare system.

A report for the Virginia Poverty Law Center says many children are separated from their families because they lack resources.

It shows poverty adjacent neglect accounts for many of the reasons a child is separated from their family.

Michaela Havison with the center says that can take many forms, like a single mother leaving her sick child at home while she goes to work.

So what this is indicating is that in these situations, families don't have the ability to completely provide for their child and instead they really need resources and support.

About 85 percent of families investigated by Child Protective Services have a household income of less than double the federal poverty line.

That would be under $65,000 for a family of four.

The report found Virginia ranks 49th for children aging out of the foster care system and only successfully reunites families 27 percent of the time.

I'm Zamone Perez.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.